Playing at music making with your toddler

One of the easiest ways to get into the habit of including music in every aspect of your life with your child is to make up songs about everyday activities as you perform them. Invent a crawling song, a getting dressed song, a going-out-in-the-stroller song, working to keep the rhythm steady and the verses rhyming. If you find it difficult to invent songs from scratch, start by replacing words in simple nursery songs with new words. In this way, you can also expose your growing toddler to a wider vocabulary. By including dramatic pauses, exaggerated facial expressions, and silly made-up words, you encourage expressiveness and demonstrate to her that communicating can be fun.”

You are welcome to read this selection from the book by Don Campbell: “The Mozart Effect for Children: Awakening your Child’s Mind, Health, and Creativity with Music, published by William Morrow, p. 83